Newcastle United will decide who wins this season’s Premier League title

Moussa Sissoko and his Newcastle team mates could have a major say in the title (Picture: AP Photo)

Newcastle United will be a major player in the race for this season’s title and they are also in the thick of a relegation battle.

The Toon haven’t been Premier League title contenders themselves since the mid-1990s but their remaining fixtures mean they will play a huge part in whose hands hold the trophy come May.

Having helped Fulham to their first win in ten last weekend, the mid-table Magpies will also have a say about who goes down with matches to come against at least three struggling league sides.

The first of those is on Saturday when Tony Pulis’ Crystal Palace, who sit just one place above the relegation zone, soar into St James Park. Despite their recent revival, Palace would fall into the bottom three if Sunderland won their two games in hand.

In a few weeks, Newcastle travel to Stoke City who, although far away from the relegation places, will need a handful more points to secure their Premier League safety for another season.

Fast forward to the final four games of the season and Newcastle United play two title-chasing teams and two sides who are scrapping it out to stay in the league.

The Magpies face a Welsh double of Swansea City followed by Cardiff City in consecutive home games.

At first glance of the league table, Swansea appear to be comfortably in mid-table with four sides cushioning their descent into the relegation places. In reality, as Swans fans will already know, Garry Monk’s side will be praying they pick up more points as they are one of nine teams who could still be relegated.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may need a repeat of Cardiff’s FA Cup win over Newcastle to stay in the top flight (Picture: AP)

Cardiff, who ended the Magpies’ FA Cup run at the first attempt in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first match as manager at St James’ Park in January, may well need a repeat if they aren’t to suffer a quick return to the Championship after just one season in the top flight.

At the other end of the table, Newcastle will travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal at the end of April before finishing the season at Anfield against Liverpool – who on current form could be hoisting the league trophy come full time.

This season’s Premier League title race looks set to go down to the wire with Chelsea narrowly ahead on points, Manchester City in position to pull ahead if they win their games in hand, and in-form Liverpool and former leaders Arsenal needing to win all their remaining fixtures to be in with a chance winning the title.

The Magpies may appear to have nothing left to play for but at least the Toon faithful will have the excitement of their club having a huge say in the prospects of other Premier League sides at the sharp end of the season.